Relentless Nightmare
by Cire Navillus
Summary: This story takes place on the Enterprise E after the events of Nemesis. Picard must once again battle the Borg who have now gained a foothold in Federation space.
1. Chapter 1

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE VOYAGES

Relentless Nightmare

Awaking abruptly with a quiet gasp Captain Picard sat up. Momentarily unsure where he was, he closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief realizing he was in bed in his quarters. Tossing aside the sheets, he walked over to the sink and splashed some cold water on his face. As he dried off in front of the mirror, he stared stoically back at his reflection as if he wasn't sure who was looking back. After a moment he regained his composure and walked over to the replicator and ordered his usual beverage.

"Tea, Earl Grey, Hot," he said to a computer panel. With a series of musical tones, the replicator began making a whirring noise with swirling light that became a steaming cup of tea.

Picking up the cup, he casually strolled over to a window looking out at light glistening off the ship's hull and a starry backdrop. As he sipped at his tea, he seemed to almost relax, letting his shoulders drop a little. He began to focus his attention on the planet they were orbiting, it reminded him very much of Earth. Just as he thought about trying to go back to bed, an echoing chirp filled the silence followed by a young man's voice.

"Bridge to Captain Picard" spoke the disembodied voice.

"Picard here."

"Sir, there is a priority one message for you from Starfleet!"

The captain momentarily dropped his head and then replied, "Put it through down here."

He strolled over to his desk and spun a small computer around to face him. With the tap of a button, he then spoke to the computer, "Computer, open transmission, authorization Picard 4 7 Alpha Tango." The computer made a series of tones and then the face of a middle-aged Admiral appeared.

"Admiral Ross, I take it your not just calling to say hello?" Picard say casually.

Admiral Ross replied in an almost worried tone, "I'm afraid not captain, we've lost contact with Starbases 457 and 462 in the Baralis system, you're the only ship in range. Your orders are to investigate and report back your findings."

Captain Picard took a sip of his tea. "Are any other ships responding, and are there any preliminary indications of what may have happened?"

Shaking his head the Admiral answered, "No and no, most of the fleet is committed on the Romulan border during peace negotiations. I'm afraid your on your own Jean Luc. Good luck."

Picard gave a nod of acceptance and responded "Understood admiral, we'll do our best, Picard out."

Tapping the button once again the computer screen went blank. He tapped his comm badge and gave an order following the chirping noise.

"Picard to bridge, set a course for the Baralis system warp 9 and go to yellow alert!"

Once again a disembodied voice replied "Acknowledged captain."

Picard took another sip of his tea and murmured to himself, "So much for a little shore leave."

The Enterprise left orbit of the planet and streaked into the darkness of space.

Among the black backdrop of space, Starbase 457 was a prominent figure against the distant stars. Although a familiar looking starbase, there was an odd difference about this one, large portions of its hull had large masses of cable and microchip-like objects randomly scattered about the surface with low dull green tones to them. At a closer glance, this starbase is not as it should be.

A distant flash of light preceded the USS Enterprises arrival as it dropped out of warp and approached Starbase 457.

"On screen, full sensor scan Mr. Worf!" ordered Picard.

A look of puzzlement with a hint of fear washed over the captain's face as the image of the starbase appeared on the view screen.

"I am reading fluctuating power signatures throughout the station sir." reported Lt. Commander Worf.

"Life signs?" inquired the captain.

"1,054 life signs scattered all throughout the station, they are all Borg sir!"

"What?" the captain whispered to himself. "Are you reading any shields up or weapons armed commander?"

"No sir"

Picard stood up and walked toward the view screen and stopped at the helm control station. He paused for only a moment before turning to his first officer Commander Michael Maddox.

"Commander take an away team and find out what the hell happened over there."

"Aye sir, security team alpha to transporter room 3, Mr. Worf and Mr. LaForge your with me."

As the away team went into the turbo lift, Picard turned back to the view screen to study the image once more.

"If they assimilated the starbase, where is their ship?" he thought to himself.

The command center on the starbase only vaguely resembled what it had looked like before being transformed into a Borg central control hive. What was once a brightly lit and spacious room was now a dark and very warm, an almost halfway to hell feeling. A momentary brightness filled the room as the away team beamed into the control room. The security team had phasers already drawn as they fanned out in a search pattern. Worf and LaForge immediately opened their tricorders and began scanning various spots.

"Commander Maddox to Enterprise."

"Picard here."

"Sir, the entire control room appears to be a central hive for the Borg . They appear to have taken complete control of the station."

"Are they aware of your presence?"

"No sir, they seem uninterested in what were doing."

"Understood, keep me posted, Picard out."

"Commander Maddox, I think I've found something!" LaForge called out from the other side of the room.

Maddox and Worf closed in on Laforge's position.

"What do you got?" inquired Maddox.

"Well, they have total control over the main computer, I'm reading several upgraded torpedo launchers and shield generators all over the ship. They also seem to be pumping a lot of power into the shuttle and cargo bays."

"Any idea why?"

"No, I can't tell from here, there's too much interference."

"Can we get down to the main shuttle bay?"

"Not by turbo lift, they're all offline, and it's a long way down in a Jeffries tube."

"Is it possible to beam down there?"

"I don't see why not, the Enterprise will have to beam us down though, I can't access the station's transporters."

"Maddox to Enterprise."

"Go ahead."

"Captain, the Borg are devoting a lot of power into the shuttle and cargo bays for something, can you beam us down to the main shuttle bay?"

"Standby commander, Transporter room 3, lock onto the away team and beam them directly to the starbase's main shuttle bay."

Once again the light of a transporter beam filled the command center. The away team appeared seconds later in the main shuttle bay which felt very much like the command center. This room was different though, dozens of fish tank looking units filled the bay.

"What do you make of the LaForge?"

"I'm not sure sir."

"Sir, over here!" shouted one of the security crewmen.

The entire away team flocked over to his position. All their faces had uniform look of shock.

"They appear to be Borg infants, they also seem to share the same DNA pattern, they are clones sir!" stated Worf as he scanned several of the units with his tricorder.

"Maddox to Picard"

"Go ahead commander"

"Sir, the Borg appear to be using this entire starbase as a Borg cloning facility!"

"Do you have any idea how many clones there are?" Picard asked.

"Standby, Geordi can you tell how many there are on the station?"

"Just a second, I'm going to try realigning the scan radius of my tricorder, modifying bandwidth to high spectrum, and…, there, out of the 1,054 Borg onboard, 830 are clone infants at varying stages of development, and they're developing fast sir, I estimate most of the clones will mature in the next 6 hours."

"Did you get all that sir?"

"Unfortunately yes commander, Geordi is there any way to access the self destruct system?"

"No captain, the Borg have taken control of every system on the station including the main computer, I can't even gain access to the reactor control to set it to go critical."

"Could we beam a team into the reactor control room and set charges?"

"I'm afraid that's out of the question too sir, that section of the station has been heavily shielded, the Borg seem to have gone to great lengths to protect this station from being destroyed."

"I need options commander, the Borg must not be allowed to continue…"

Just then a warning tone on the Enterprise bridge sounded followed immediately by an Ensign at the Tactical post.

"Sir, I have a Borg ship bearing 1 8 4 mark 3 1 9!"

"On screen!" ordered Picard

The entire bridge crew froze in a look of disbelief at the image on the view screen.

"My god." Picard said quietly to himself.

The ensign at tactical chimed in once again.

"Sir that ship is the size equivalent to 75 Borg cubes!"

"Red Alert, Commander Maddox prepare your team to return to the ship, ensign how long until the ship is in weapons range?" Picard asked.

"Seven minutes sir." replied the tactical officer.

Picard tapped a button on his command chair. "Transporter room 3 beam the away team back now!"

"Aye sir, stand by, I've got them sir" replied a disembodied voice that emanated from Picard's chair.

"Ensign raise shields and send a message to Starfleet informing them we have engaged the Borg."


	2. Chapter 2

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE VOYAGES

Relentless Nightmare

The Enterprise looked like a shuttle craft compared to the super massive Borg ship. This was not like any other previously encountered. Shaped like a geodesic dome, it was a far cry from the typical cube shape. Commander Maddox, Worf, and LaForge returned to their stations on the bridge. A young woman at the communications station turned to Captain Picard after viewing a response from Starfleet.

"Sir, Starfleet has ordered us to regroup with the rest of the fleet in sector 218."

"Thank you ensign." Picard quickly replied. "Mr. Worf are they in weapons range yet?"

"No sir, they will be in range in 1 minute 32 seconds."

"Mr. Worf, ready all weapons, full power to forward shields." Picard ordered.

"Sir, were no match for them, we should regroup with the fleet." Maddox strongly suggested.

"I am aware of Starfleet's order Mr. Maddox, Mr. Worf, fire on my mark."

There was an tense silence on the bridge as all eyes were transfixed on the view screen showing the approaching Borg ship. After 30 seconds the silence was broken by a beeping sound from the Ops station.

"Captain, the Borg ship has come to a full stop and has begun to beam something off of the station" the lieutenant at Ops reported.

"Can you tell what they beamed up?" Picard asked.

"Yes sir, they beamed off all of the Borg drones that were growing in the incubation chambers."

"Mr. Worf, lock….."

"Captain, they're moving off and have gone to warp," interrupted the lieutenant at Ops.

"Heading?"

"They've set course for the Romulan border."

"Mr. Worf hail the USS Titan, priority one!" Picard ordered.

"Aye sir, I have Captain Riker on subspace," Worf responded.

"Captain Picard, I take it this is not a social call?" Riker said with a slight jest.

"Not this time Will, are you still on patrol on the Romulan border?"

"We are, we were just about to get underway to rendezvous with the rest of the fleet, why do you ask?"

"We were investigating Starbase 457 and discovered that the Borg had turned it into a drone nursery. Then a massive Borg vessel came and beamed them off and set coarse for the Romulan border. Will, I believe we are looking at a change in the Borg's behavior, it's almost seems like they are creating an army. Have there been any reports of Borg ships Romulan space?"

"None that we've heard, but then again, Romulans aren't too willing to share information given how tense the peace talks are going."

"Something doesn't sit right with me about this situation, I going to contact Starfleet to see if there is any new information, in the meantime I'll let you get underway."

"Acknowledged Captain, good to talk to you again, we'll see you at the rendezvous."

"Same here Will."

"Mr. Worf, open a channel to Admiral Ross, I'll take it in my ready room."

"Aye sir."

"Sir, shouldn't we head for the rendezvous?" Maddox questioned.

"I'm not leaving until I have answers. Work with Mr. LaForge and Mr. Worf on a way to destroy that station." Picard replied.

"Aye sir."

Picard walked briskly to his ready room and sat at his desk where he was greeted by his computer screen flashing "Transmission Ready." With the tap of a button, Admiral Ross's image appeared on the monitor.

"What can I do for you Captain?" Ross inquired.

"Admiral, I think we have a far bigger situation here than we have faced before."

"Your right Jean Luc, we do, Starbase 457 is not the only based assimilated by the Borg. We know of at least 3 Romulan bases, 2 Klingon bases, a Ferengi outpost, and 2 Cardassian bases that have been assimilated."

"Admiral, we found Borg infant growing chambers on Starbase 457, have similar units been found on those other bases?"

"They have, we think the Borg are amassing an army to take over the Alpha Quadrant."

"I had the same thought."

"The only bright side is that there is only one ship, but…"

"I know, we've seen it. They beamed off the Drones they were growing and headed for the Romulan border at high warp."

"So they've begun to assemble the troops. Picard, I want you to shadow that ship and see what they're up to, try and find any weakness, the entire quadrant and perhaps even the entire galaxy may rely on it. Godspeed Captain."

"Understood, Picard out."

Picard sat back in his chair for a moment, pondering how he should proceed. A large explosion rocked the ship before he had a moment to think. Picard moved swiftly out to the bridge.

"Report." Picard demanded.

"Sir the Starbase just self-destructed." Maddox reported.

"Any idea what happened Mr. LaForge?"

"Not yet, I'm going over sensor readings now."

"Well, there's nothing left here now, helm set a pursuit course after the Borg ship, maximum warp."

Picard sat in his command chair in a posture that seemed to contradict the desire to sit.

"Were not meeting the rest of the fleet?" Maddox asked Picard.

"No, Starfleet has ordered us to follow the Borg ship and gather as much intel as we can on what they are doing, We could be looking at the most dangerous threat this galaxy has ever seen."

"Pursuit course laid in sir." the helmsman reported.

"Engage!"


	3. Chapter 3

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE VOYAGES

Relentless Nightmare

_Captain's log, Stardate 93816.4, the Enterprise is currently in pursuit of a Borg vessel that has attacked and assimilated several Starbases in the alpha quadrant. Their behavior is oddly different with this encounter, they seem to be preparing a very large army of drones. Typical Borg behavior would be to conquer, assimilate and move on. The Borg feel like a relentless nightmare, one that haunts your dreams and leaves you with feelings of unease when awake._

"Mr. Worf, any sign of the Borg vessel?"

"No Captain"

"Are you sure this is the course they took Geordi?"

"Yes sir, we're following their ion trail precisely."

"Time to the Romulan border Mr. Worf?"

"Fifteen minutes, thirty one seconds Captain."

The bridge was filled with feelings of tense fear. Captain Picard was pacing the bridge wishing that one of his officers would have something to report any moment. Commander Maddox called for the captains attention, Picard moved toward Maddox thinking "be careful what you wish for" before responding.

"Yes Commander."

"Sir, there's a message from Starfleet, the Cardassians, Klingons, and Ferengi have all reported that their assimilated bases have self-destructed."

"Just like Starbase 457, that just leaves the Romulan bases, were running out of time. Worf, time to the border?"

"Ten minutes, forty two seconds captain."

"Do you have any idea how many Borg drones they may have cloned Geordi?"

"Hard to say without exact numbers but guessing on the size of the bases they assimilated, it could be between 950,000 to 2 million."

"Geordi we've got to find that ship, is there any way to boost sensors?"

"I'm already running them as sensitive as I can Captain, wait a minute, I've got something Captain, bearing 284 mark 935, it's the Borg ship sir they're at a Romulan base."

"Helm, Change course to intercept, how long Geordi?"

"Five minutes sir."

"Mr. Worf sound red alert and inform Starfleet we've found the Borg and relay coordinates."

"Yes Captain."

The massive Borg vessel dwarfed even the large Romulan Starbase. The remnants of destroyed Romulan ships surrounded the Borg ship like a metallic cloud. There was an eerie stillness as the Borg ship beamed the cloning chambers off the Romulan base. Onboard the Borg ship hundreds of thousands of drones lined the decks in alcoves like statues. Thousands more drones emerged from cloning chambers fresh from the Romulan bases. The drones moved like marching troops preparing for deployment into a battlefield. An alarm began to sound signifying the approach of the Enterprise.

"Prepare to fire Mr. Worf." ordered Picard.

"Aye sir, Photon and Quantum torpedo bays loaded, phasers charged and ready." Worf responded.

The Borg vessel moved away from the Romulan base as the Enterprise approached. Seconds later the Romulan base exploded sending a shock wave that rocked the Enterprise, momentarily disorientating sensor and weapons lock. The Borg vessel open fire on the Enterprise, phasers blasts and torpedoes exploded off the shields. Computer panels began exploding all over the ship as it was pummeled by the superior Borg weapons.

"Damage report!" Picard yelled out.

"Shields are down to 62 percent, I am having difficulty maintaining a weapons lock on the Borg vessel!" Worf reported back.

"Warp drive offline, I'm attempting to reinforce shields!" Geordi reported.

"Mr. Worf, Fire all weapons, target manually if you have to!"

The Enterprises phaser beams shot out randomly, only occasionally hitting their mark. Torpedos shot off in all directions as if they had no direction given to them. The Borg ship continued to pound the Enterprise mercilessly.

"Captain shields are collapsing!" Worf reported.

"I don't know how much longer I can hold it together sir, Impulse power failing, we've got hull breaches on decks 4, 5, 6, and 7, emergency forcefields in place!" Geordi added.

"Helm get us out of here!" Picard ordered.

"No response from Helm sir!"

Just then the Borg vessel ceased fire. Picard looked up from the control panel on his chair with puzzlement. Electrical arcing from panels and smoke filled the bridge.

"Captain, we are being hailed." Worf said checking his beeping panel.

"On screen, This is Captain…"

"Jean Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise, yes yes, save your presentation captain." a voice interrupted.

Picard looked at the screen as if he was seeing a ghost. The voice seemed very familiar to him, but he couldn't believe it. He stood up slowly, never looking away from the view screen which showed a large computer device surrounded by Borg drones.

"Now I'm sure I don't look familiar captain, but surely you recognize my voice?" the disembodied voice said.

"Lore." Picard said out loud.


	4. Chapter 4

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE VOYAGES

Relentless Nightmare

"I am touched you still remember me captain." Lore said with sarcasm.

"I don't understand, how did you end up on a Borg ship?" Picard asked.

"Well Captain, the last time we met I was trying to raise a quality of life for the Borg and my brother, but you intervened and helped my brother turn against me. So after being deactivated, I awoke in a federation lab on a starbase. I was able to send a secure subspace message to a Borg ship, they came and rescued me in a manner of speaking. Actually, they tried to assimilate me, but being of one mind, I was able to download my _consciousness _as you humans call it into the central processor, from there I was able to isolate the ship from the rest of the collective and started my own little hive."

"And what do you plan to do now?"

"I plan to assimilate the entire alpha quadrant."

"But why Lore, this serves no purpose."

"That's where you're wrong, the Borg have one thing right, one mind, complete order, humanoids do nothing but fight over territory like wolves over a piece of meat and threaten each other with promises of war if they don't conform to the others belief. Humanoids don't deserve the freedom of individuality."

"Your wrong Lore, it's our individuality that defines us, it helps us better ourselves by learning from mistakes, creating friendships, and aspiring to do better each day."

"My dear brother followed your ideals and look what that got him Picard, I tried to make him understand and join me at my side."

"If you were half the android Data was you would know why Data did what he did."

"I am 100 times what Data could have ever become Captain, and soon the entire quadrant will see why."

Lore ended his transmission. The Borg ship began to separate into several smaller pyramid-shaped vessels. The Borg ships began to scatter in different directions.

"Captain, the Borg ships are moving away at warp." Worf reported.

"Heading Mr. Worf?" Picard responded.

"Multiple different headings sir, I can confirm ships on course for Romulus, Cardassia, Ferenginar, Bajor, Kronos, and Earth."

"Mr. Worf send out a general warning to every base and outpost in the quadrant."

"Aye sir."

"If Lore is controlling the entire fleet, one of those ships must have the central processor node onboard, Geordi is there any way to detect which ship Lore is on?"

" I can try scanning for a signal transmission between the Borg ships, but Captain long range sensors took a beating, this may take some time, I tell you one thing, I wish Data were here, he'd be able to scan much faster than I could."

"I agree Geordi, we don't have Data, but I think I may know someone who can help."

"B4? I don't know sir, he's still not running at 100% yet."

"I understand your concern Geordi, but at this point we need all the help we can get. Take B4 to engineering and see if he can help find a signal." Picard ordered.

"Aye sir, I let you know if we find anything." Geordi replied.

"Mr. Worf, can you tell how many ships there are?"

"Hard to get an exact number sir, some of the ships are out of sensor range, there are at least 30 on sensors." Worf reported.

"Maddox, could you please go down to engineering and assist Commander LaForge."

"Aye Captain." Maddox answered.

The first of the Borg ships to arrive at its destination was at a Romulan shipyard. Borg drones transported aboard the station and began assimilating it personnel. The three Warbirds assigned to protect the shipyard were destroyed in minutes by the Borg ship. Escape pods jettisoned away from the shipyard never made it more than a few thousand meters before being destroyed. After about a half hour the entire shipyard's crew was assimilated or killed. The drones returned to the Borg vessel and destroyed the starbase before moving onto their next destination.

"Alright, that should do it, B4 do you know where you are?" Geordi asked.

"Yes, I am in engineering." B4 replied.

"Good, ok, B4 I need you to access long range sensors."

"Stand by, accessing."

B4 sat with 2 cables running from his head to a computer panel. The portion of his android skull visible was filled with flashing lights that blinked at a fast rate. His head slightly twitched as he worked to access the sensor grid. Geordi and Maddox stood anxiously awaiting good news.

"I have accessed main sensor grid." B4 said.

"Ok, can you scan for a signal being sent between the Borg ships?" Geordi asked B4.

B4's attention seemed to begin to stray as if he had the attention span of a small child.

"B4!" Geordi said.

"Yes?" B4 answered.

"I need you to focus please, can you scan for a signal of any kind being transmitted between the Borg vessels?"

"Standby, I am scanning."

Once again his head began slightly twitching and lights on his head blinked faster and faster. Seconds seemed to pass like minutes as Maddox and LaForge waited for B4's response. B4's head stopped twitching and he cracked a slight smile.

"I have found a transmission signal linking the Borg vessels."

"Great, can you find the signal source B4, try scanning for a positronic signature." Geordi told B4.

"Standby, accessing signal pattern, initiating signal trace, stand by."

"Maddox to bridge."

"Yes Commander."

"Captain, B4 has found a signal linking the Borg vessels, he is currently attempting to trace the signal origin, we believe this should lead us to Lore."

"Commander, I have the signal origin, bearing 1 1 8 mark 3 2 9." B4 said.

"Did you get that Captain?'

"Yes Commander, Geordi set a course, maximum warp." Picard ordered.

"Aye sir." Geordi responded.


End file.
